Leaving tomorrow for South Africa! I’ll have to keep this short and sweet, because there’s still packing, essay work and reading to do before we go. However, the Titanic exhibit was too great to pass up talking about. It was very structural-based, giving a firm idea of how the ship was built and what happened after it sank. The focus was definitely not on the story of the actual voyage, but I kind of liked that! I don’t know too much about shipbuilding, but it provided lots of answers for questions I didn’t even know I had. There were a few artifacts, but mostly exhibits and information. I didn’t mind at all! There was also live music playing right before we arrived… nice touch. It made it feel less like a museum and more like a casual kind of place where information is exchanged. We also found a cute bookstore where I read about families all over the world, including Johannesburg, the capital of South Africa (where I’ll be… in 2 days). I had never really thought about how families function differently abroad, so it was a great thinking piece for me

. Also, got to try pizza with sweet corn on it, one of my bucket list items for Northern Ireland. Let me tell you, the Irish love their sweet corn. I’ve had it in tuna, sandwiches, salads, etc. and I am not complaining. That pizza goes down in my book as an important part of my trip (almost as much as Paolo’s… almost). Tonight involves packing, probably some Skyping and hanging out with my Belfast girls. Can’t wait for tomorrow and the day of flying, but I’m pretty positive South Africa is going to be an important experience. Northern Ireland has been pretty draining, especially saying goodbye to all of our new friends and helping our old friends cope with some trying circumstances. I have been waiting for South Africa for months; it’s the whole reason I was really attracted to this trip. I’m nervous, but overwhelmingly excited. I’m learning more about my placement at Artscape every day. They’re really legitimate; they seem to be a sort of “Kennedy Center” for South Africa. PUMPED! That’s all for now. I’m sure I’ll have more soon J Cheers!